Deflect and Absorb
by thatpersonwhoisthatperson
Summary: For once Pepper doesn't want to confront the situation at hand. T/P, one-shot.


**Note: Lovely thanks to Colleen-TJ and Mae Stark for the beta! I received great advice that I feel helped me improve my writing. Cheers! :) **

**Written for its-always-been challenge 06, Free For All. Cross-posted over there at LJ. Enjoy!**

**(PS: DOV chapter 7 IS coming - my confidence has been built back up so hopefully you'll read it soon!)**

Tony woke up in the New York suite, staring at the wall as the previous night's activities came rushing back into his mind. The prospect of kissing Pepper and sleeping with her, for the first time, made him smile and roll over on his side –

– only to find himself on an empty bed. No soft red hair spread out like a fire on the cream colored sheets, no blue eyes staring back at him.

Tony immediately pushed back the sheets and, after finding his pants and pulling them on, set out to find Pepper.

He found her on the couch, the television blaring in front of her. Grinning, he made his way over to her and sunk down into the couch, intent on asking why she'd left the bed so early in the morning.

"Good morning," she said as Tony sat down next to her. "How did you sleep?"

"Excellent, thanks to you." His tone was suggestive but Pepper said nothing in return. He waved his hand in front of her face. "Pepper? Talk to me."

She started slightly. "I have e-mails for you, I need you to..." He tuned out her voice to focus on the fact that she hadn't given him the slightest notion that she remembered, or cared about, anything that happened last night. Tony angled his body towards hers a fraction to test the waters and Pepper's body tensed beneath him.

"Tony..." she warned, then cleared her throat. "Take the computer from me, I don't want you leaning over me to look at the e-mails, it's -."

"To hell with inappropriate Pepper, not with last night. You enjoyed it too, from my perspective."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Pepper mumbled finally, standing up and making her way to the bedroom where her things were laid out on the floor. This confused Tony, but he had a basic idea of what she planned to do and he wasn't about to let that happen.

"Pepper," Tony called out to her, "I'm not letting you do this now."

"Do what?" Innocence. Tony wasn't buying it but it was scaring him.

"Damn it, you can't just…I mean, we…don't you remember last night?"

She paused. "The Expo was last night."

"And…?" Tony prompted. She was confusing the hell out of him.

"And then we came here to spend the night." She eyed him curiously.

Tony shook his head. "Pepper, how can you not remember that we kissed last night? And slept together?" He hadn't even left, which he had been hoping she would notice.

"We did no such thing," she snapped hurriedly, which piqued Tony's suspicion because of the way she was now getting defensive. She managed to sneak by him in his position at the door frame and enter the kitchen, suddenly engrossed in the coffee pot.

"Yes, we did," Tony confirmed, running after her. "I remember."

"I – no. No." She squared her shoulders defiantly.

"Don't lie," he interrupted, placing his hands on her shoulders, effectively trapping between the wall and his body. "Why don't you remember?"

Despite how her walls were crumbling Pepper managed to stand up a little straighter. She said nothing.

"I'll help you remember," Tony told her as he leaned in close, dragging his bottom lip up and over her top one before Pepper caved and kissed him thoroughly for what she knew deep down was the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

Pepper backed away slightly and Tony watched her with a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. The fight was over - what was the point? She loved him and she wasn't going to let an infinitesimal amount of fear and reluctance stand in the way of that.

"I have the ability to push things out of my mind that I'm…not entirely comfortable remembering," she whispered truthfully, holding his gaze.

He felt as though he couldn't move, not wanting to set her off in any way. "You're not comfortable?"

"Well...it's a big change," she confessed, taking a deep breath and quickly realizing her mistake as her senses were filled with _Tony_.

"No," he countered, "we're just...taking the next logical step."

She kept a cautious eye on him. "You think this is the next logical step?"

"In our relationship, yes." His even tone shocked him. "By the way, why are you acting like this never happened?" Pepper diverted her gaze.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I feel like we're rushing into…this."

"Do you not want this?"

"No," she said, "I do."

Tony's brow furrowed. "Then I'm not really getting why –."

"I think it's because I couldn't believe it," Pepper interjected quietly, "so I forced myself to believe that it never happened."

Tony kissed her again. "And do you believe it now?"

"Yes," Pepper whispered, her eyes still closed.

He chuckled. "Am I really that forgettable, Pepper? I mean, I could see why you'd want to believe nothing happened, since before I -."

"No, that's not it. I know you've changed. I just have a little...left over fear. It still sits in the back of my mind, the fact that something could go wrong," she said, glancing down.

"But that's not gonna happen, right? I swear to you that I'll do everything in my power not to mess this up."

"Thank you. I needed that." She nodded decisively. "We'll take it as it comes."

"There's the Pepper I know," Tony murmured, smiling as he bent down to kiss her again.

END.

**Always a pleasure to know that you've read, and possibly enjoyed! vvv**


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